Chris, You Don't Get It

In response to the viewpoint from Christopher J. Lewis in today's PNJ....

Chris,

So your magic bullet to make it all better in Escambia County Schools is to make school board districts “at large”?  Really? Didn’t you think “at-large” council seats were the solution for the Pensacola City Council?  What happened there, Chris?  Never mind.

Let’s see what your idea would do to our schools.  First, in violation of a standing court ruling from the civil rights era, it would potentially eliminate the minority representation for district three.  Poof, gone, and we’d be in violation.  Guess you did not think of that unintended consequence, right Chris?

Secondly, in case you didn’t know this, we do represent the community county-wide, we are simply elected by geographical districts, in order to minimize the influence of the politically savvy and wealthy concentrated in some areas of town.  You see Chris, geographical representation is a balance to outside influence.  What does this mean?  Let me dot-connect for you.   It means I can walk neighborhoods and visit Thousands of households going door to door in my campaigns to target my message inexpensively in my district (which I have done on multiple occasions)—neutralizing, to a large degree, any outside money, influence, and power.  So your proposal actually takes power away from voters and candidates at the grass-roots-which seems counter to what you appear to believe in based upon your writings.  Paradoxical.

But, back to the response to Peacock’s article—I stand by every word of it, because it is accurate.  Chris, I understand from scanning your lengthy and rambling screeds that you see the world through rose-colored glasses instead of dealing with reality.  Folks like you that are naïve and glib on many

Thank You District 1!

I've Been Re-elected Unopposed--Thank You District 1 Voters!

The 2014 Campaign for Escambia County School Board, District 1, has ended.  At 12:01 yesterday afternoon, the last day of qualifying, I received a call from Supervisor of Elections Mr. David Stafford.

 He called to let me know that no other candidates had entered my race by the deadline, and therefore I had been re-elected without opposition.

Although I had prepared for a grueling race, I'm extremely grateful and very much humbled that the people in my district saw fit to send me back to the board for another term without any opposition.  To my constituents in district 1--  I will continue to work as hard as I can for you to make our schools as best they can be;  I'll continue to keep it real and challenge the status quo wherever and whenever it appears, and I will always put students, parents, and taxpayers first--nothing is changing in that regard going forward.  That is my promise to you, that is what I'll do.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart!  

Sign SB 850 into Law!

So-- very few will actually wade through all 140 pages of SB 850 before jumping on a bandwagon, listening to others' talking points, then becoming conscripts in the charge demanding Governor Scott veto this bill.  But there are some important matters addressed in this bill and I hope Governor Scott will sign it into law.

First and foremost, the provisions related to Career and Professional Education are extremely important;  we all know college is not for every student, and proper CAPE implementation is imperative for the students who will be foregoing college and entering the workforce directly.

In addition, this law fosters an increase in cooperation between colleges and school districts, which in turn will hasten increased dual enrollment opportunities for students and families.  This will save HUGE money for these folks when the college years begin and is a big benefit to parents/taxpayers/college families/and students who do not have lavish budgets for school.  All these folks benefit from SB 850!

Also, the fact that Florida Corporations can lower their tax burdens while simultaneously benefiting students that have special needs, this is a GOOD thing!  The fact that more parents will have more options for their students as a result of the expansion of this program is a GOOD thing!  When did helping families and students with disabilities become a bad thing?  Why would anyone want to stand in between a parent and student, stuck in a failing school system, and a better educational choice for such students/parents?
Answer: ---those who would do this are those who's loyalty is for the system, not the student.  I am the opposite.  I am for parents, students, taxpayers and choice!  I'm agnostic as to the educational vehicle--be it public, private, charter, virtual, or home-school. I want public schools to succeed and get better, I'm a product of excellent public schools and my kids go to public schools--- but the world is changing and we need to keep up.   I also understand economics;  oligopolies and monopolies, in most cases, do not benefit consumers and lead to inferior products, higher costs, and inefficiency.  I want our district, and all districts, to compete!!  This will, in time, make us better, more efficient, and more student-focused.

Meanwhile--the disingenuous vitriol coming from the various guardians of the status quo is just about enough to make me violently ill.  I'm sick and tired of people screaming that allowing student and parental

Starbucks Will Pay for Employees' College Tuition!

 My wife and daughter practically live at Starbucks, but I only go to Starbucks on an infrequent basis because I'm cheap, I mean Frugal. After reading this article in Forbes this morning, I may have to start going more often and I definitely want my son to look into getting a job there! What a great perk to offer employees--the chance to graduate with a Bachelor's degree and no student debt! From the article: "This morning at a company meeting in Manhattan, Starbucks SBUX +0.54%’ billionaire CEO, Howard Schultz, announced that the company would pay for thousands of workers, including baristas who work just 20 hours a week, to get a bachelor’s degree through Arizona State University’s online program. The initiative, the first of its kind, will allow many of the Seattle-based company’s 135,000 workers to graduate debt-free. Those who already have two years of college credit under their belts, will be entitled to a full tuition reimbursement. Those just starting college will receive subsidies worth an average of $6,500. There will be no requirement that employees who graduate with the program stay on at Starbucks."

Incremental Progress Part I

Making progress on big issues while sitting as one member of a 5 member board is difficult. When one board member sees things, let's say, differently--this further complicates the effort for changing issues. Making progress on these issues when the board has an elected superintendent of schools and does not necessarily favor a policy or idea is next to impossible. So this past week has been exceptional.

 At last week's special workshop for discussing the rights and responsibilities handbook, some very important progress was made with respect to the addition of language that requires that a student's parents be called before a student is questioned at school for law enforcement, non-school discipline related matters, by Police. It's the sort of language I've been trying to get inserted into the book for three years over HEAVY opposition from the superintendent's staff, the county sheriff, and several members of the School Board.

 So at this meeting, knowing that time was a factor in getting the book advertised for adoption, I brought

Unlikely State Provides a Big Win for School Reform: CA Judge Rules Tenure Unconstitutional

A Superior Court Judge in California has ruled that tenure is unconstitutional--- and results in discrimination against poor students who, becuause of tenure protections, are forced to accept ineffective, sub-par teachers. From The Atlantic: "under current California law, principals are forced to make high-stakes decisions about teachers without enough evidence. This disadvantages students, who might get stuck with sub-par instructors, but it also hurts teachers, who aren’t given enough time to prove their skill. Once a teacher earns tenure, it can cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars—and countless administrative and legal man-hours—for a district to permanently remove him from his job. And in the event of budget cuts or school closings, California law mandates that the least experienced teachers be laid off first, even if they are more effective than their older colleagues, a policy known as “LIFO,” or “Last In, First Out... California is an outlier. Only 12 states have formal laws on the books mandating LIFO."

Rights and Responsibilities Handbook Meeting Goes 5+ Hours

The Escambia County School Board met in a workshop to discuss the rights and responsibilities (R&R) handbook yesterday, in what would turn out to be an epic five and a half hour marathon session.

Room 160 was packed out with district administrators, teachers, members of social justice groups, and other interested community persons.

The big issue du jour was the revisions to the R&R handbook.  Primarily these were related to expanded language describing those persons whom the district would now specifically identify as persons not to be bullied, harassed, or discriminated against.  Several justice groups gave board members suggested language to add to the R&R-with the most high profile addition being the addition of“gender identity/expression” to the ever expanding list of those against whom discrimination is not tolerated, that currently includes:   race, color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, and many more. 

The board eventually voted 3-2 to add the language to the book, and the overall R&R book was approved for advertising via a 3-2 vote, with Bill Slayton and me voting against. (I brought an alternative proposal to use comprehensive language to encompass all the non-discrimination laws, however my idea was rejected)

I expressed my appreciation for the input from members of the public and from the staff who patiently waited through the entire meeting, and I expressed my appreciation to the Superintendent for his willingness to compromise and add language allowing for parents to be contacted prior to police questioning of minor students at school—this is something I have pressed for several years and this language change was the biggest step forward that took place yesterday-by far- during the session; it really was a huge step forward and I’m pleased to get good compromise language into the book for the protection of parental and student  rights against self-incrimination.

I was also pleased that the “change of placement” term is being rightly changed to what it really has become lately, that being “disciplinary reassignment”.  I’m also pleased that the board will now vote on these “disciplinary reassignments” monthly as statute dictates we should- based upon Mrs. Waters Memo describing the legal basis for this requirement.

But even though we made some significant forward progress in the session yesterday-I still feel like we are moving in the wrong direction with respect to discipline, and this is ultimately the primary reason I was unable to vote to approve this handbook yesterday.

Why do we allow students, during the time they are serving In-School Suspensions, to participate in extracurricular activities like football and basketball?  If a student has violated the conduct policy to the extent that they are suspended, they should be suspended from all the fun activities as well.  This must change.

Additionally, when we water down the penalty for drug use/possession on campus, which is what the revisions made to